My son is finally sleeping in his own bed after our easy co-sleeping to bed transition we made over a 10 day period. He actually slept in his bed the first night we started to sleep train him and ever since then, it has been smooth sailing!
But I can’t take all the credit. I worked with Diana from WeeSleep and best decision I have ever made.
As new parents, we just found it really hard to part ways with Nate at night. I just wanted to cuddle him in our bed as much as possible before he didn’t want us to cuddle him!
Nate started off sleeping in a bassinet in our bedroom when he was born, and after two or three months, he started sleeping with us in our bed. He would nap during the day in his crib in his room. It worked for us because most nights he would sleep for 5-6 hours or more. But when the time changed happened in March, for some reason it triggered his sleep habits and he was waking up 2-3 time a night for a bottle.
I had been speaking with Diana for several months through Instagram and we finally decided just at 11 months old we should get the routine and program started. You can actually start sleep training you baby earlier or later, but we decided at 11 months was best for all of us.
Can I just say that the person you work with to help you sleep train your child makes a HUGE difference? I don’t think that I could have done this without Diana being as sweet, supportive and understanding as she was. Diana was able to walk us through a program suited for Nate and on his first night, he only woke up once. No bottle was given, but we went in, soothed him, and then he fell asleep until 6:30am the next morning.
Though the tips below are what helped us sleep train Nate to sleeping from 10-12 hours a night without any night feeds, I strongly encourage you to work with a sleep consultant when your child is ready to be sleep trained. And for me, personality as mentioned earlier, is a must. Diana from WeeSleep really helped us through difficult time and I highly recommend her. I’m going to link her info at the end of this post.
Did I mention, we kicked the pacifier habit? Yup! Winning!
Sleep Hygiene: Bedtime Basics
Let’s start by covering the basics of the foundation for a good night’s sleep for your 1-year-old. If you don’t get these right, no fancy methods of sleep training will ever work. Take this list and make sure you are doing your best to apply every point for a restful nights sleep.
Consistency in Bedtimes & Wake times: The circadian rhythm (your body’s natural daily sleeping schedule) is made stronger by consistency. So it is a great idea to keep your child’s bedtimes/waketimes at the same time as much as possible throughout the week and even on the weekends. This will allow you to harness the rhythms of natural sleep. For example, a late-night or long weekend lay in can throw off your child’s sleeping rhythm for days.
Bedrooms are for sleeping: Try and keep their bedroom for sleeping in as much as possible. Avoid letting them play for long periods in their room. You don’t want to let them associate their room and bed with wakefulness and play. You want the association to be fixed to sleep and rest.
Temperature: I know I like to keep Nate’s room warm but a hot and stuffy room isn’t great for their sleep. Keep their room cool at around 65 to 70 degrees Fahrenheit is perfect.
Zero Distractions: Keep distractions in their room to an absolute minimum. Their bedroom needs to be quiet and distraction-free if they are going to sleep well.
Create a Bedtime Routine: Bedtime routines create strong signals that it is now time to go to sleep. It gives your child adequate time to wind down from their day. It should be predictable and soothing.
Favourite Toy: If your child has a favourite toy then make sure they have it when they go to bed. Children are comforted by what experts call a “transitional” object. It helps them relax, feel safe and secure enough to fall asleep peacefully.
If you want the beautiful gift of sleep - call Diana! You all know I don’t promote any services or products I don’t strongly agree with. So if it is a recommendation from me, it’s one that is deemed to be amazing!
With Love | Nikki xo